Eberhart's Explorers

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Move back Martha!

Thanks to [The Inspired Apple], I was anxious to make this DIY project! ;-) Check it out...so easy. Martha Stewart needs to watch out!

It will match my zebra rugs and "explorer/safari" theme perfectly. Squeal! Thanks Abby! ~Miss E

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Ok seriously....I love my stinking school. We just turned 102 years old last year, so you can imagine some of the interesting things we have there! ;-) Which brings me to my teacher desk...I'm pretty sure it came over on the ark! (Noah's that is) I just had to make it cutesy and because my room is rather small, it is imperative that I utilize every.inch.of.space! So - here we have my lunch count/attendance. In the morning, students move their magnetic "lunch creature" from the good morning side to the packed or cafeteria side. Students who are left on the good morning side are your absentees, students who are on your cafeteria side are your lunch count (fortunately for us, we do not have to indicate a choice 1 or choice 2), and students on the packed side are who brought their lunch from home. Easy enough? I always stress to students that this is part of their morning routine and I would hate for anyone to forget to move their creature and be counted absent! *wink* Works like a charm! Anyways, I've included my labels below. Just print them off, cut out, glue on cutesy card stock?!, and adhere to your desk or filing cabinet. Any other great idea on how to do this differently or spice it up for next year?!? ~Miss E

Click the image to download

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

It burned a hole in my pocket...

I wonnnnn - my first giveaway! A $15 Target gift card. I'm not gonna lie, it was burning a hole in my pocket. ha ha I had to hurry out and spend it! Here is what I bought:

My Target FINALLY had the letter and number stamps AND mini pocket charts. Yay! Paired with Fran's awesome printables {here} - I've got myself some new work stations. And, I may or may not have spent more than I won...but who cares? It was too good to pass up! *wink, wink* I had gotten some dip trays at the Dollar Tree earlier in the summer and I created these...

I used some of Fran's work mats and adapted them to make a "Sorting by Color" tray. Won't the foam blocks work great? Squeal!

Here are a few other trays I put together. Holy cow - I just LOVE the Dollar Tree and dollar section @ Target.

I laminated the "I have ___" cards and bound them using a book ring. I plan on having students use vis a vis markers to fill them out after they have sorted their money. Hello NEW math work station (and for a dollar - whoo hoo). Below, students will sort by size using the 3 part dip tray.

Thanks Mrs. Lazenby for my new goodies. Happy dollar shopping! ~Miss E

Monday, July 18, 2011

-Math Journals-

So.....with all this "math talk" floating around in the blog world and the fact that I've attended two math conferences this summer, I'm feeling rather mathematical! It has had me thinking about next year's journals and what I'm going to do differently. I thought I would share with you what I've done in the past. I just love the marble composition books and always stock up on them. (Walmart has them right now for .40!) Print off a cute little label and you've got yourself a journal.

Inside, I had a parent draw lines and students recorded the number, number word, tally marks, and drew an illustration. See the finished product below! (please note: we did 0-30 over the course of a school year)

I may step it up a bit and add definitions and other items in my journals this year - try to incorporate more writing. I'll use some of the pages from my students' math workbooks. We just adopted a new math series! Can I get a Hallelujah? I would hope it would look a little something like this...

You can have the composition books cut in half at office supply stores or hardware stores.

These are samples taken from a 1st grade journal. I figured if I started implementing things like this in my class, my kinders would be on top of their game when they moved on into 1st. What are your thoughts or suggestions? I'd love to hear them. ~Miss E

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Tons O' giveaways!

Hello bloggers! There are MAD giveaways going on...have you entered?

Ladybug's Teacher Files has reached 1000+ followers. Wow! To enter her fantastic giveaway and have your blog made over, click {here}. Four lucky winners will be drawn.

Hop on over to Fab-u-lous in First and enter her fun summer headband giveaway!

Mrs. Duggins' is celebrating her 50 follower mark and is gifting an adorable basket full of goodies. I am sooo hoping I win! Head over {here} to enter.

First grade fanatics are at 400 followers. They will be picking 4 lucky winners to choose something FREE from their TpT store. Awesome!

And lastly...Teaching in Flip Flops has reached 50+ followers and is giving away a "scent-sational" prize. Be sure to enter.

I'm a little late posting these and several end tonight/tomorrow. Hurry up and enter. Best of luck! ~Miss E

Christmas crafts!

Ho, Ho, Ho....Merry Christmas! In the spirit of the season, I thought I would share some ornament ideas I've made in the past with my kinders. Each year, I purchase gift bags and do Santa hand prints on the front. As we make an ornament, we place them in the bag and before school dismisses for the holidays, I add tissue! My students take this home and present it to parents as their Christmas gift. It's always a HUGE hit.

Here are some of the ornaments we place inside. They vary from year to year depending on snow days and what kits I can find on clearance at craft stores.

There is no rhyme or reason to my applesauce & cinnamon ornament or my shredded wheat & Elmer's glue ornament recipes. I just keep adding and mixing until I get to the consistency I want. Please note: both ornaments take days to dry so I recommend doing these at the beginning of December. Also, I would wear rubber gloves and have your kinders, too! Happy crafting. ~Miss E

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Merry Christmas and a Happy New school Year!

It seems that in blog world, everyone is in the Christmas spirit! Because I do not have a TpT store, I figured I would at least contribute to the generosity and offer a few freebies to get everyone geared up for a Happy New *school* Year!

If you're like me, you have already thought about organization for the upcoming year and what you are going to do differently. So, here is the first thing: organize your classroom library. Hopefully these freebie labels will give you the jump start you need. Just download them and print them off using the Avery 5160 labels. Adhere to the front of your containers and cover with a strip of clear packing tape or contact paper for protection. Unfortunately, I had to do them in separate files, so make sure you download all 5 sets!